E-Games

Electronic Games are software programs played for entertainment, challenge, or educational purposes. Electronic games are full of colors, sound, realistic movement, and visual effects, and some even employ human actors. There are two broad classes of electronic games: video games, which are designed for specific video-game systems, handheld devices, and coin-operated arcade consoles; and computer games, which are played on personal computers.

Categories of electronic games include strategy games, sports games, adventure and exploration games, solitaire and multiplayer card games, puzzle games, fast-action arcade games, flying simulations, and versions of classic board games. Software programs that employ game-play elements to teach reading, writing, problem-solving, and other basic skills are usually referred to as edutainment.

Electronic games put to use a variety of skills. Many games, such as Tetris and Pac-Man, serve as tests of hand-eye coordination. In these games the challenge is to play for as long as possible while the game gets faster or more complex. Other games, such as Super Mario Bros., are more sophisticated. They employ hand-eye coordination by challenging the player to react quickly to action on the screen, but they also test judgment and perseverance, sometimes by presenting puzzles that players must solve to move forward in the game. Strategy games ask players to make more complicated decisions that can influence the long-term course of the game. Electronic games can pit players against each other on the same terminal, across a local network, or via the Internet. Most games that require an opponent can also be played alone, however, with the computer taking on the role of the opponent.

Video-game consoles, small handheld game devices, and coin-operated arcade games are special computers built exclusively for playing games. To control the games, players can use joysticks, trackballs, buttons, steering wheels, light guns, or specially designed controllers that include a joystick, direction pad, and several buttons or triggers.

While video-game systems are used only for gaming, games are only one of the many uses for computers. In computer games, players can use a keyboard to type in commands or a mouse to move a cursor around the screen, or sometimes both. Many computer games also allow the use of a joystick or game controller.